Emirati pilot led Etihad's flypast at Abu Dhabi GP

The Emirati pilot who flew the Pope home and ferried the Special Olympics Flame of Hope to the UAE is celebrating another aerial achievement.

Capt Abdulla Obaid, 45, led the flypast over Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in an Etihad Airways’ Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

The formation also included an Airbus A380 and seven Aermacchi MB-339A Fursan Al Emarat jets, which flew at 400km per hour, 800 feet above track.

Capt Obaid posted a picture of the formation, alongside one of himself with his two fellow copilots with the caption: “I had the privilege of leading the show formation over Yas Marina Circuit aboard Boeing 787 in the final of the Formula One World Championship in Abu Dhabi. Accompanied by Captain Mohammed Tamimi and Captain Henry.”

Capt Obaid's flypast capped off a big year that began in March with the Pope’s historic first visit to the UAE.

It is tradition for the Pope to fly Alitalia, Italy's national airline, to wherever he is visiting, but he always returns on the host country’s national carrier.

Capt Obaid, who was among the first batch of pilots to join Etihad’s Boeing fleet and was the first Emirati to fly the pope, called the opportunity an enormous privilege.

Etihad Airways fly past and aerobatic display by Al Fursan during the UAE national anthem. Victor Besa / The National

Planes spray the UAE flag colours over the track. AP Photo

The UAE flag colours are spread by passing planes over the track. AP Photo

Race goers were thrilled by a spectacular Etihad Airways and Fursan Al Emarat fly past minutes before the start of the race. Jorge Ferrari

Race goers were thrilled by a spectacular Etihad Airways and Fursan Al Emarat fly past. Jorge Ferrari

Temple numbers

Expected completion: 2022

Height: 24 meters

Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people

Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people

First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time

First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres

Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres

Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor

Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide

Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.

The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.

Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.

Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”